Who's a pretty boy then? Or should that be....'Yeh ghob-soorat ladka koan hay'

Multilingual parrot is fluent in Urdu amazing passers-by with his varied vocabulary

Meet Rocket the Parrot – the multilingual bird who speaks Arabic and Urdu. The blue-fronted Amazon can already be heard shouting the greeting ‘assalamu alaikum’ – peace be upon you – in Arabic to amazed passers-by.

He has also mastered the Islamic declaration of faith – and speaks English, too, with an Asian twang.

Rocket not only copies his owners but also fellow pets Cappuccino the cat and the family’s 11 chickens.

Owner Ehsaan Mahmood, 18, of Werneth Hall Road in Oldham, said: “My dad Tariq used to keep parrots in Pakistan and when he moved to England he wanted to get some here as well.

“We had a few smaller green parrots six or seven years ago but we’ve had Rocket for two years now.

“When we got him he could only say Hello - but now he’s got quite a vocabulary together.”

Gary Louth

Tariq and Rocket

Blue-fronted Amazons are natural mimics and chatterboxes.

And Rocket loves nothing more than when his cage is taken outside in the summer months.

Ehsaan said: “We put his cage in the front yard sometimes and he loves to sit on

dad’s shoulder and goes for walks.

“He can get quite an audience when he’s in the mood to talk. People stop outside and just stand and stare.

“All the kids in the area love him and can’t wait for it to get warmer so he can sit out and chat.

“He can say all our names and we’re trying to teach him Urdu now.

“He sometimes says things that even we don’t understand - who knows what he’s saying?"

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